November 11

November 11 is the 316th day of the year, and the American record for it runs from 1778 to 1993 — a span of 215 years. The entry that anchors it: American Revolutionary War, 1778.

The revolutionary generation left its own mark on the date. In 1778, American Revolutionary War — British forces and their Iroquois allies attacked a fort and the village of Cherry Valley, New York, killing 14 soldiers and 30 civilians.

The antebellum decades brought the date closer to the country’s central argument. In 1813, War of 1812 — British–Canadian forces repelled an American attack at the Battle of Crysler's Farm, forcing the United States to give up their attempt to capture Montreal.

Reconstruction and the years that followed added their own entries. In 1889, the State of Washington is admitted as the 42nd state of the United States.

The early twentieth century brought industry, air travel and war to the date. In 1921, the Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated by U.S. President Warren G. Harding at Arlington National Cemetery. Five years on, in 1926, the plan for the United States Numbered Highway System was approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials.

After 1945 the date reflects a country operating at global scale. In 1966, NASA launches Gemini 12. Six years on, in 1972, Vietnamization — the United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.

The most recent entries fall within living memory. In 1993, a sculpture honoring women who served in the Vietnam War is dedicated at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The date is also a birthday. Among the Americans born on November 11: Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836), American poet and author; Maude Adams (1872), American actress; David I. Walsh (1872), American lawyer and politician, 46th Governor of Massachusetts; George S. Patton (1885), American general; and Roland Young (1887), English-American actor.

November 11 is also a date of endings. Among the Americans who died on it: Nat Turner (1831), American slave and rebel leader; James Madison Porter (1862), American lawyer and politician, 18th United States Secretary of War; Lucretia Mott (1880), American activist; and George Engel (1887), German-American businessman and activist.

The date carries formal observance as well — End of World War I-related observances: — Veterans Day, called Armistice Day until 1954, when it was rededicated to honor American military (Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force) veterans. (United States). The record for November 11 runs 215 years deep across 8 entries. Read in sequence, the date stops being a coincidence and starts being a through-line.